STEVE DODGE
Special to the Observer
It was truly a Cinderella story for the 17th edition of the FHL Lumber Cup as the much beleaguered White Knights rode the clutch goaltending of Peter “The Wolf” Andrews to a 3-2 shootout victory over Black.
“It was a great win,” White captain Brent Carter said.
“We were injury-riddled, but we brought in a few guys, made a few adjustments and it worked out.”
Black and White had each won crucial games Friday over Red and Green, respectively, to punch their ticket in the winner-take-all final Saturday afternoon.
The final game had more suspenseful momentum shifts in the final minutes and the five-minute overtime than your average 50-year-old sees in a season as both teams left nothing in the tank.
For the first time in the tournament White lit the scoreboard first thanks to Troy “Story” McMillan who finished a 2-on-1 rush going five-hole on Black tender Mike “Port” Moody who might have been cheating on the play.
Rob “The Rocket” Belanger, dangerous every time he touched the puck for Black, tied the contest 13 minutes into the first half with a Lafleur-like dash down the wing before rifling a shot top-shelf that left White netminder Andrews with a wind burn.
Later, a powerplay opportunity for Black turned out to be a disaster as McMillan recovered a loose puck at the offensive blueline and undressed Moody with a move to the backhand to give White a 2-1 lead.
That is when it looked like Cinderella’s pumpkin had run out of juice.
Black mounted wave after wave of quality chances before White appeared to score the clincher three minutes into the second frame.
But a late no-goal ruling by the officials, that seemed to come from a place far far away, left White shaking their heads.
It didn’t take Black long to take advantage of the call as they tied the score on a dribbler with three minutes remaining in regualtion as Lee ”Nitro” Naeth seemed to will the dying puck over the goal line.
As the frantic last seconds of regulation ticked away an even stranger call was made against White, leaving them shorthanded for almost two minutes at the start of the overtime period.
Black came out buzzing and just before they were assessed a penalty of their own “Nitro” almost ended the game for White when he rang one off the post as he did his best Steven Stamkos impression.
The man advantage seemed to give White some fresh legs.
But the few opportunities White did have to score the golden chances were all squandered, which set up the first FHL shoot-out since 2003.
After both shooters missed on their squad’s first attempts, the big guns were under the spotlight.
White’s Brody “Good” Neighbour and Black’s Belanger each made no mistake with highlight reel moves that had both goaltenders re-adjusting their jock straps.
A terrific deke by Scottie “Little Softy” Fairless put White ahead 4-3.
Black missed on their third attempt.
Another beautiful deke, this time by the final game MVP Troy “Story” McMillan went in, it meant and White was ahead 5-3.
Black had to score on their last two shots.
Andrews would have nothing to do with that nonsense and stymied Black’s next attempt.
As the puck flew harmlessly over the net he was mobbed by his delirious teammates.
“He was phenomenal,” Carter said of Andrews.
“If it wasn’t for him we wouldn’t be here.”
Absent from the scoresheet for White were Dale Bubela and Steve Dodge.
Bubela had come alive in the latter part of the regular season getting his fair share of goals.
In the playoffs, Bubela was strong on defence and in the corners, Carter said.
“When he goes into the corner, he usually comes out with the puck.”
“Not many guys can stop him.”
Carter was less effusive regarding Dodge, a man of many talents.
“He couldn’t catch a pass if his life depended on it,” Carter said with a laugh.
‘But he is a good defensive winger.”
A Black and White finale wasn’t what many experts had picked as the Red tide had the best second half of any of the contenders and White hadn’t put two games together since early November.
But in playoff hockey you never know what colour of cream will rise to the top.
Pucks and Posts:
Wow to Black’s speedy Rob “The Rocket” Belanger who was the playoff scoring leader with seven points in only four games.
Holy Toledo to White’s Rob “Lucky” Lantz who scored four goals and prevented a bushel in his own end.
Give a hand to Green’s Chad “The Comet” Swanson who scored 75 per cent of his teams goals.
Great save Andrews, Moody, Enemark and Burke! We’ve come a long way and the goalies had the best this season by far!
Si Cerveza to our volunteer score keepers, especially “Jungle” Jim and Grant “Plants” who were on day passes from the White infirmary.
Thanks to the referee’s who kept us in suspense for much of the action.
Steve Dodge is a defensive winger with the White team and an Observer contributor. With files from Percy N. Hébert.
